Caller party identification for incoming calls is currently linked to the name of the subscriber on the billing account for traditional phone service. Given that multiple parties can share a single account, and an individual person can place a call from any phone line, the transmitted caller id information does not always convey the true identity of the calling party.
For example, members of a household often share a common phone number. When individuals in a household place a call using a phone tied to the common phone number, the calling party identification that gets transmitted in the call setup message is the name associated with the registered billing party. Other users of the same phone number will not be able to use their individual calling name information when making a phone call.
Therefore, a need exists for a method and apparatus for enabling multiple calling name identifiers for individual phone numbers.